YOU wait 114 years for a Scottish Cup win then suddenly the game is dragged back to the dark ages. It was as if the 1980 Scottish Cup final riot had never happened at Hampden yesterday as joyous Hibs fans invaded the pitch and wreaked havoc after their 3-2 victory against Rangers at the national stadium.

Whilst a bit of abandon amongst their supporters can perhaps be forgiven, what certainly cannot is running the length of the field to attack the Ibrox club's players and provoke the opposing fans, plenty of whom also entered the field of play. The sight of mounted police entering the field also had echoes of the meeting between Celtic and Rangers 36 years ago.

The security authorities were far too slow in anticipating the trouble and stopping it from happening. As many as six Rangers players were left effectively trying to fight their way off the pitch. Lee Wallace, Rob Kiernan, Andy Halliday, Dean Shiels, Jason Holt and Kenny Miller were all confronted, with Wallace and Holt in particular finding punches and kicks raining down on them. Assistant manager David Weir was forced to manhandle one pitch invader away from his technical area, while analyst Stevie Walker was spat on. The commotion was such that Rangers had to receive their runners-up medals in the dressing room while it took 45 minutes to clear the field sufficiently for Hibs to receive the trophy. Having been prevented from touching the trophy at the club's media day this week for superstitious reasons, it must have seemed like an age before captain David Gray - the scorer of that momentous 92nd minute winner - got his hands on the silverware.

While the ramifications of what went on at the final whistle will dominate the news agenda for weeks and months and quite rightly so, what made it even more of a shame was that in football this was a fitting climax to the year of the underdog. Since pretty much its first whistle, the 2016-17 football season has had an anarchic feel to it. Leicester City winning the Barclays Premier League, tiny little Dingwall hosting a League Cup party, the rise and rise of Falkirk. Hibs finally claiming the Scottish Cup after 114 years of trying - against a Rangers team good enough to overcome Celtic but not see the job through - pretty much put the tin lid on things.

Ten times before today they had failed at the final hurdle since a single goal from Andy McGeachan gave them that famous 1902 victory at the old Celtic Park - a year before this stadium was built - but only once had they fallen at the hands of Rangers. Even that 1979 showpiece had an agonising quality to it - after back-to-back goalless draws, Rangers prevailed 3-2 in the second replay. Representatives of both teams that day, Alex MacDonald and Tony Higgins, got their hands on the silverware beforehand and perhaps it was fitting that the cup hoodoo was finally undone by the same scoreline.

While the previous tally in the five meetings between these two teams this season also stood at 3-2 in Rangers' favour as the day began, perhaps it was the announcement of Brendan Rogers' appointment at Parkhead which drew this kind of performance from Anthony Stokes. The Irishman still has a contract there next season and the former Liverpool coach could hardly fail to be impressed with a showing which put the fear of God into the Rangers back line.

The match was minutes old with plumes of red and blue smoke spilling into the air from the Rangers end when McGinn won a midfield scrap, referee Steven McLean played advantage, and Cummings released the Irishman down the left. Rob Kiernan was so desperate to avoid diving in that he in truth did nothing to prevent him sending a fine low finish.

This result was wholly justified on the 90 minutes, which began with Rangers appearing flummoxed by Hibs' 3-5-2 shape. They needed someone to stand up and be counted and it was little surprise that it should be Kenny Miller, still sprightly at the age of 36, who delivered. When he timed his jump perfectly to beat Darren McGregor to Tavernier's deep centre, he had his first Scottish Cup final goal.

For the second Hampden match running, Rangers also conjured a goal of huge quality, Halliday turning into space from Barrie McKay's pass and firing perfectly past Conrad Logan.

Hibs, in their 54th match of the season, still had something left. Stokes, a thorn in the flesh throughout, cleverly used an arm to ease himself away from Tavernier to head in Liam Henderson's near post corner. His next one was powered in by Gray. It said it all that those same goalposts would lie mangled, like Wembley 1977, by the close of the day's action.